Quality vs. Ease vs. Story

[shifty_ginosaji 10]

I am currently working on a campaign. (will have a preview soon)

My work has reached a crossroad, Quality vs. Ease vs. Story.

Quality:

The missions in their current state require quite a few mods, not limited to A3MP, Antoine Flemming's Mediterranean Operations (NATOSOC + SCOJFC bundle), Saul & John_Spartan's work and ChaRus Naval Infantry

This adds up to make a huge download and several server-side woes, several mods could be removed and substituted with lower quality ones and stock arma units that would make it an easier download but would impact the feel and look of it. I would also need help for scripting, acting and video editing for cutscenes.

Bare minimum mods:

Current Mix:

Ease:

This is all about shipping with fancy cutscenes and nifty voice acting on initial release, I was not planning a release this way but it may change. It is also about multiplayer and lag, at the moment some of the missions can be a tiny bit laggy on a mid-high end computer and would require a decent server for a multiplayer implementation. I am currently at the point of no return for many of these choices and would like to have peoples input. Optimization is being worked on tirelessly but smaller missions might be needed if it gets too laggy.

Story:

Like in all missions you have to draw a fine line between fun and story. The current stage of the story currently supports three formats that could be chosen;

- Singleplayer

- 1-6 COOP

- 28-60 COOP

A singleplayer and small co-op multiplayer implementation would allow a nice story that would work for all of the missions currently planned and in their final stages, small cutscenes and the planned use of widescale high command vs. HETMAN Artificial Leader. The larger implementation would be virtually storyless but would involve epic player vs. player and player vs. AI battlefields, HAL would be impossible in this implementation due to lag and missions would need to be changed to accomodate for preparing before going into action but geez it would be awesome.

Timeline:

Event:

Ukraine crisis escalates

Date:

Early 2015

NATO agression in Ukraine results in Russian intervention after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sues for intergration with

NATO, Russian troops enter Kyiv in march and install a puppet government. U.S-Russia relations effectively cease.

---

Event:

Syrian Civil War ends

Date:

Mid 2016

The Syrian Government with support from Iran defeats rebel movements in the coastal and interior parts of the country, fighting

only continues in the north. Syria and Iran pursue greater cooperation.

---

Event:

Iranian Coup

Date:

2021

A Nationalist-led coup is launched in Tehran, the new Republic of Iran is founded under a secular constitution. Iran is accepted openly into

the international community.

---

Event:

Dissolution of the Eurozone

Date:

2026

Years of unbridled military expenditure after economic collapse pushes Greece, Italy and Spain to breaking point. Combined with

nationalistic movements throughout Europe and revolutions in outlying states destroys any hope of European cooperation in the

near future. German influence keeps many Western European states in the husk that the European Union has become.

---

Event:

Iran invades Turkey

Date:

2026

The untested Armed Forces of the Iranian Republic invade Turkey after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hits the country. Turkish forces were

taken under complete surprise after they were deployed to aid with disaster relief. Rumors persist that the earthquake was somehow

caused by the Iranians, Western nations condemn the invasion and U.S relief ends.

---

Event:

Greek Coup & Altian succession

Date:

Late 2026-2029

Nationalistic military leaders in Athens leading a group of Greek conscripts overthrow the government resulting in a new anti-EU

nationalist regime. This comes after riots that have resulted in the deaths of thousand of greek civilians after the old government ordered a mechanized battalion to stop the protests. In the wake of the coup the long-irrelevant secessionist FIA launches a grab for power in Kavala and succeed.

---

Event:

CSAT is formed

Date:

2030

China, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan and a multitude of other nations become signatories of the Cantoon Protocol Strategic Alliance Treaty.

CSAT is formed in the wake of growing instability in Europe and the mainland United States, CSAT Joint Forces quickly deploy throughout the

Pacific, Mediterranean and Middle East. This leads to a new era of prosperity for the poorer regions of Asia.

---

Event:

Altian Civil War

Date:

2030

A brief civil war among several parties consumed Altis in one year of death and destruction, with over half the population of the republic dead the international community forced them into the Jerusalem Peace Accords. After the talks a government was formed and an official military - the AAF was formed to help re-stabilize Altis.

---

Event:

NATO Peacekeeping operations on Altis

Date:

2030-2035

The U.S 7th Infantry Division is deployed in the Republics of Altis and Stratis to help the AAF keep the peace. Their secondary role is to man the radar station on Stratis.

---

Event:

China restricts trade

Date:

2033-

China and other CSAT nations throttle the power of European NATO by imposing heavy tariffs and trade requirements on the U.K, France and Germany in an attempt to economically secure the western front of the CSAT bloc.

---

Event:

CSAT Supports the AAF

Date:

February, 2035

In accordance with requests from the Altian government CSAT begins to fund and train the AAF after the NATO mandate finishes.

---

Event:

Altian Coup

Date:

Midnight July 6th, 2035

Nationalist elements in the AAF secretly dispose the government, the new leaders planning to isolate Altis from the influence of world powers and end international relations through force.

---

Event:

Altian war of Independence begins

Date:

July 7th, 2035 (Drawdown 2035)

NATO troops based on Stratis are betrayed by the AAF in a widespread green-on-blue attack. NATO forces are completely devastated. The remaining platoon of men led by Cpt. Scott Miller survive and even make headway while being outnumbered and without command structure.

---

Event:

CSAT assists NATO

Date:

July 10th, 2035

CSAT forces, also decimated by the AAF quickly regroup and are soon on the offensive. NATO troops stuck on Stratis attempting to contact MEDCOM manage to reach Col. Vahid Namdar, commander of the CSAT brigade on Altis. On the 10th of July CSAT Paratroopers attacked AFB Stratis and successfully extracted surviving NATO units. This leads to a warming of relations as the CSAT-NATO Coalition closes in on the AAF stronghold of Kavala...

---

Campaign Begins....

---

Quick Spoilers:

I am lost about the direction that i need to go, i hope that you guys can help me in this decision. I might even make two versions or make a PvP version of the more massive battles.

Will release details soon, any other ideas would be appreciated.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Madopow2110

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Madopow, don´t worry so much about mods which could really ADD to atmosphere/immersion/fun - it may require the players to download and install them, but most of the times they´re really worth it! Many people dislike the "near future setting" so if you use EvanCat´s Modern CSAT I´m certain you´ll harvest a great deal of players! At least for the SP and 1-6 COOP... the large MP would be fancy for plenty of communities here, but if you STILL worry too much about using mods, you can make this - storyless - version of the campaign modless, as it wouldn´t require too much atmosphere/etc you´ve got the idea...

Take a look at Panicsferd´s campaign -> http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257254798 , it is mod heavy and has tons of players ;)

And please, like Mistyronin, IndeedPete, Panicsferd and Bardosy, release the SP campaign as a proper campaign file...

Cheers!

[neofit 65]

My opinion:

Quality:

It doesn't matter much. I don't see much difference between the two screenshots, it seems to be the same stock Arma3 stuff with different colors. Or, as is said in another language, "same balls, side view" ;). Now if mods were used to change the sci-fi stuff into present day or 1985 weaponry, I'd be all for it, I'd have an opinion, otherwise do what's best for you.

Ease:

Same thing. Personally I am annoyed by custcenes and wish all of them had a "Skip" option. So you won't see me asking for more, again, do what's best for you.

Story:

I am sure you guessed it already, I am also annoyed by too much story and scripted stuff happening :). I am not a good public and can poke holes in everything, so the less of it the better.

So in short, you won't see me complain about not enough custcenes, voiceovers, story and scripted events. And if less of these mean more scenarios, then more scenarios please!

Another thing to consider: what's the replay value? If it's a dynamic mission or campaign like Pilgrimage, DUWS or the Whole Lottas, and people keep playing and replaying them, then it may be interesting to add production quality like cutscenes and voiceovers. If it's a mission or campaign like all the other scripted ones I've played, it's seen once and forgotten, so it may not be too useful to spend too much time on extra production values.

Anyway, we'll play anything, as long as we are not forced to fly to get through some missions :).

[shifty_ginosaji 10]

They are very dynamic, using the HETMAN Artificial Leader you have to adapt to different situations; the enemy smartly uses artillery, flanking and air assets.

Some of the missions are quite long with running times of several hours, even in missions lacking HAL the enemy has been randomized and will provide a different experience each time. Also the missions can be very brutal, simply throwing you men at the enemy will always result in defeat and careful timing, use of limited supports (UAV, Quadrotor, Ship Launched Cruise Missile... e.g) and planning will allow you to achieve your goals.

Will release the first mission whenever i can make up a name for the campaign (help appreciated)

Edited May 30, 2014 by Madopow2110

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

"Eastern Promises"???? (Just love that Cronnenberg movie with Viggo) and BTW, I wouldn´t mind if you have some missions with "optional tasks" (so neofit and alike don´t get pissed lol) involving flying and pwning CSAT air and ground assets ;)

Anxious to playtest your campaign!

Cheers!

[disco.modder 116]

I personally think including mods is a great and probably only way to create unique missions. Relying on vanilla content can only go so much in missions until the need for specific units rise, which aren't available in the game. Then you'd see the wonders of mods come into play. I know people arent too happy with downloading mods, but they're just wimps. Once they see the advantages of mods and how moddable the Arma engine is Im sure they'd change their thinking and wouldnt mind downloading gigabytes of mods. Hey, my arma folder is over 100GB in size and guess why if it wasnt for mods. :P

[fn_Quiksilver 1636]

If no one has played it, make it easier than you would think it should be.

[shifty_ginosaji 10]

Timeline/Progress report coming soon

Edited May 31, 2014 by Madopow2110

[hades198 10]

As far as cut scenes go, I only have to think back to the OFP campaign and I start feeling lethargic

[shifty_ginosaji 10]

at the moment i have no plans for any cutscenes except for conflict-style briefings